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Born on July 11, 1901, in Yongding County, Fujian Province, Dr Teo Yik San (張益三, Zhang Yisan) was a formally credentialed practitioner of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) whose life was dedicated to community healing. In June 1939, amid the tumult of the Second Sino-Japanese War, he was officially certified by China’s national Department of Health under prominent medical figures including Dr Yan Fuqing and Jiao Yitang. Armed with these formal credentials, Dr Teo brought his clinical expertise to Singapore.

In the late 1930s, he established Poh Hua Medical Hall (保華) at 78 Bukit Panjang Road, located at the historic “10th Milestone” (Chap Eng Li). At the time, Upper Bukit Timah was a bustling, self-contained rural hub filled with plantation workers, dairy farmers, and industrial workers from nearby facilities like the Ford Factory and Cold Storage Dairies. Far removed from city hospitals, local residents relied heavily on Dr Teo as their frontline physician. He diagnosed ailments, prescribed tailored herbal remedies, and hand-dispensed treatments from classical apothecary drawers.

His clinical skill and dedication earned him deep reverence. In a testament to his impact, local business owners—including representatives from the Nanyang Shoe Factory and the He Fa mat business—collectively commissioned and presented him with a grand wooden honorific plaque. It was inscribed with the classic medical idiom 妙手回春 (Miào Shǒu Huí Chūn — “A wondrous hand brings back the spring”).

Over his lifetime, Dr Teo’s lineage expanded into 12 major family branches, carrying forward his commitment to healing across generations. Today, his medical legacy thrives through his son and a grandson who both entered the profession as doctors, alongside his grandson George Foo, the founder and CEO of health365.